"Scheherazade", Richard Siken
"Scheherazade" was the first poem that I read that truly had an impact on me. I was struck by the language of it; I thought it was very rich and beautiful. Before reading it, I had never really felt moved by a poem. The simple words of a poem had never caused me to feel anything, had never made me emotional. I could immediately relate to "Scheherazade", though, and I read it over and over again, discovering something new every time I did. It also made me want to read more of Siken's work. I went searching for other poems of his and found many more that were equally as compelling as "Scheherazade". Looking at more of Siken's work eventually stemmed off to looking at the works of many other poets and I ended up discovering many more poems that I loved. "Scheherazade" was not only very striking, but also got me interested in poetry in a way that I had never been before. Out of my mini-anthology, "Scheherazade" was the poem that had the most impact on me and manifested an interest in poetry in me that I never would discovered if I had never read it.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
"somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond", E.E. Cummings
1) THE POEM
click here
2) VOCABULARY
16. rendering: an act or instance of interpretation, rendition, or depiction
3) ANALYSIS
(a) This poem is about a relationship that is built around carefulness and love between two people. It is about the fragility of the way a person in love treats the person that they are in love with. The poem demonstrates the the way that these two people care for and respond to one another.
(b) The theme of this poem is how loving someone can affect the things you do and how you feel. The speaker of this poem is willing to do anything that the person he loves wants him to do, because of how much he loves them. The speaker says how "if your wish be to close me, i and my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly", meaning that however this person wants him to seem, he will immediately make himself that way, just to make the person happy. The speaker compares the person he loves to nature many times throughout the poem, saying how they are as gentle, small, and fragile as different elements of nature. The speaker refers to Spring in the line "you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens (touching skillfully,mysteriously)her first rose". This line infers that the person he loves makes him feel re-born and new again when he's around them. The poem is about not only love, but new beginnings. These beginnings are, for the speaker, being brought upon by his lover. The speaker feels adoration towards how fragile his lover is and says, in the last line, that the way they act is incomparable to anything else.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
I connected to this poem not because of any personal experience I have had, but more from observing different relationships that I have been surrounded by before. The poem reminds me of how I've seen two people act with each other when they are in love. The carefulness of a relationship can be observed in the simplest of actions. On a more personal level, I relate to the sense of someone make you feel new again. Different experiences can make you feel alive in a way that you hadn't felt before, and while it may not be a lover that makes you feel this way-- it could very well just be a good friend-- it still makes you feel strong and fresh again. The language of this poem makes me not only connect to it, but also love it, and want to read it over and over again.
click here
2) VOCABULARY
16. rendering: an act or instance of interpretation, rendition, or depiction
3) ANALYSIS
(a) This poem is about a relationship that is built around carefulness and love between two people. It is about the fragility of the way a person in love treats the person that they are in love with. The poem demonstrates the the way that these two people care for and respond to one another.
(b) The theme of this poem is how loving someone can affect the things you do and how you feel. The speaker of this poem is willing to do anything that the person he loves wants him to do, because of how much he loves them. The speaker says how "if your wish be to close me, i and my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly", meaning that however this person wants him to seem, he will immediately make himself that way, just to make the person happy. The speaker compares the person he loves to nature many times throughout the poem, saying how they are as gentle, small, and fragile as different elements of nature. The speaker refers to Spring in the line "you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens (touching skillfully,mysteriously)her first rose". This line infers that the person he loves makes him feel re-born and new again when he's around them. The poem is about not only love, but new beginnings. These beginnings are, for the speaker, being brought upon by his lover. The speaker feels adoration towards how fragile his lover is and says, in the last line, that the way they act is incomparable to anything else.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
I connected to this poem not because of any personal experience I have had, but more from observing different relationships that I have been surrounded by before. The poem reminds me of how I've seen two people act with each other when they are in love. The carefulness of a relationship can be observed in the simplest of actions. On a more personal level, I relate to the sense of someone make you feel new again. Different experiences can make you feel alive in a way that you hadn't felt before, and while it may not be a lover that makes you feel this way-- it could very well just be a good friend-- it still makes you feel strong and fresh again. The language of this poem makes me not only connect to it, but also love it, and want to read it over and over again.
"Boston", Aaron Smith
1) THE POEM
click here
2) VOCABULARY
none
3) ANALYSIS
(a) "Boston" is about loneliness and a yearning for someone that is no longer there. It is about how empty and lost you can feel when you are missing someone and you are no longer able to find comfort in them. The world seems too big and vast and it feels as though you cannot find yourself. The speaker of the poem remembers back to how he used to feel and how what he used to do now only adds to how deserted he feels.
(b) In "Boston", the speaker is trying to deal with the emptiness he feels after the person he loved left him. The poet is showing the audience how feelings of loneliness can affect you. In the poem, the speaker has lost sense of who he is, saying how he "couldn't remember when [he] knew [he'd] never be beautiful, but it must have been quick and subtle, the way the holy ghost can pass in and out of a room." The doesn't even feel like he's living because the person he loves is no longer with him. The speaker is trying to find strength around him, but the city he's in is not providing him with any solace. Although this poem is very depressing, the audience is meant to be able to relate to it. The poet writes in a way that makes the audience feel the emptiness of both Boston and the space around the speaker without the person he loves by his side. The poem does not portray loneliness as a negative thing, instead, the audience feels the pain of the speaker and, if they have ever experienced a similar situation, is able to empathize with him.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
Everyone has felt lonely before. I can recall a few different periods in my life where I felt alone and empty, the way that the speaker in this poem feels. While I may not have been lonely because of the void a person in my life has left, the feeling of loneliness is the same no matter what its cause is. I also relate to the setting of this poem. I have visited Boston countless times, and experienced sunsets, night-times, and afternoons there. The simplest things, like sunsets, can happen in Boston and make you feel complete and can amaze you, but can make you feel empty at the same time. I related to not only the simple feeling of loneliness, but also how a certain place can maximize these feelings even more. The poem paints the feeling of missing someone in a beautiful way, so that while reading it, you can connect to the speaker's pain and, for me, share in the speakers feelings of loneliness.
click here
2) VOCABULARY
none
3) ANALYSIS
(a) "Boston" is about loneliness and a yearning for someone that is no longer there. It is about how empty and lost you can feel when you are missing someone and you are no longer able to find comfort in them. The world seems too big and vast and it feels as though you cannot find yourself. The speaker of the poem remembers back to how he used to feel and how what he used to do now only adds to how deserted he feels.
(b) In "Boston", the speaker is trying to deal with the emptiness he feels after the person he loved left him. The poet is showing the audience how feelings of loneliness can affect you. In the poem, the speaker has lost sense of who he is, saying how he "couldn't remember when [he] knew [he'd] never be beautiful, but it must have been quick and subtle, the way the holy ghost can pass in and out of a room." The doesn't even feel like he's living because the person he loves is no longer with him. The speaker is trying to find strength around him, but the city he's in is not providing him with any solace. Although this poem is very depressing, the audience is meant to be able to relate to it. The poet writes in a way that makes the audience feel the emptiness of both Boston and the space around the speaker without the person he loves by his side. The poem does not portray loneliness as a negative thing, instead, the audience feels the pain of the speaker and, if they have ever experienced a similar situation, is able to empathize with him.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
Everyone has felt lonely before. I can recall a few different periods in my life where I felt alone and empty, the way that the speaker in this poem feels. While I may not have been lonely because of the void a person in my life has left, the feeling of loneliness is the same no matter what its cause is. I also relate to the setting of this poem. I have visited Boston countless times, and experienced sunsets, night-times, and afternoons there. The simplest things, like sunsets, can happen in Boston and make you feel complete and can amaze you, but can make you feel empty at the same time. I related to not only the simple feeling of loneliness, but also how a certain place can maximize these feelings even more. The poem paints the feeling of missing someone in a beautiful way, so that while reading it, you can connect to the speaker's pain and, for me, share in the speakers feelings of loneliness.
"Scheherazade", Richard Siken
1) THE POEM
click here
2) VOCABULARY
11. inconsolable: unable to be comforted
3) ANALYSIS
(a) This poem is about spending time with someone you love, and not wanting the time to end. It is about how time can pass quickly when you are caught up in spending time with this person. When you are with this person, there is nothing that can get in the way of how you are feeling and you hope that nothing will cut the time short.
(b) The theme of this poem is, most simply, love. The poem is about the excitement that you feel when you are around someone who means something to you. The line "the horses running until they forget that they are horses" is related to the feeling of carelessness and freedom that you feel when you are spending time doing something that makes you feel happy, like being around the person you love. You feel so free that you forget about everything and are only focused on this one moment in time. The line "and every time we kissed there was another apple to slice into pieces" is about the endlessness of it, how you feel like this period of time can never end. However, in "Scheherazade", the poet is telling the audience that, although it may feel like this time could never end, it eventually will. The poet is telling the audience to be cautious about this, and to not get too caught up in spending time with someone, because then when it ends, the pain you feel is even worse. The line "tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us" is the speaker of the poem trying to avoid the notion that carelessness and extended freedom can result in something that isn't so beautiful. It can end up making you feel lost and sad once it's over, and it can ruin your relationship with the other person once you realize that it cannot be just you and them forever, with nothing to worry about. The poet is warning against feeling so wild and brave that you forget how to come back into reality.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
This poem reminds me of summertime and many nights that I've spent with friends, not worrying about anything and just having fun. The feeling that comes with having nothing to worry about is almost addicting. No one wanted those nights to end, and we certainly felt as if they never could. Of course, they always did, and soon enough we would be reminded of responsibilities we had and we would be pulled back into reality. Thinking back on these memories always evokes a feeling of nostalgia in me and this poem does the same thing. It makes me want to go back to a time when I had nothing to worry about and could just have fun with my friends. "Scheherazade" reminds me of nights I will never forget and also provides me with a reminder to never get to lost in the freedom of a summer night.
click here
2) VOCABULARY
11. inconsolable: unable to be comforted
3) ANALYSIS
(a) This poem is about spending time with someone you love, and not wanting the time to end. It is about how time can pass quickly when you are caught up in spending time with this person. When you are with this person, there is nothing that can get in the way of how you are feeling and you hope that nothing will cut the time short.
(b) The theme of this poem is, most simply, love. The poem is about the excitement that you feel when you are around someone who means something to you. The line "the horses running until they forget that they are horses" is related to the feeling of carelessness and freedom that you feel when you are spending time doing something that makes you feel happy, like being around the person you love. You feel so free that you forget about everything and are only focused on this one moment in time. The line "and every time we kissed there was another apple to slice into pieces" is about the endlessness of it, how you feel like this period of time can never end. However, in "Scheherazade", the poet is telling the audience that, although it may feel like this time could never end, it eventually will. The poet is telling the audience to be cautious about this, and to not get too caught up in spending time with someone, because then when it ends, the pain you feel is even worse. The line "tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us" is the speaker of the poem trying to avoid the notion that carelessness and extended freedom can result in something that isn't so beautiful. It can end up making you feel lost and sad once it's over, and it can ruin your relationship with the other person once you realize that it cannot be just you and them forever, with nothing to worry about. The poet is warning against feeling so wild and brave that you forget how to come back into reality.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
This poem reminds me of summertime and many nights that I've spent with friends, not worrying about anything and just having fun. The feeling that comes with having nothing to worry about is almost addicting. No one wanted those nights to end, and we certainly felt as if they never could. Of course, they always did, and soon enough we would be reminded of responsibilities we had and we would be pulled back into reality. Thinking back on these memories always evokes a feeling of nostalgia in me and this poem does the same thing. It makes me want to go back to a time when I had nothing to worry about and could just have fun with my friends. "Scheherazade" reminds me of nights I will never forget and also provides me with a reminder to never get to lost in the freedom of a summer night.
"On the Pulse of Morning", Maya Angelou
1) THE POEM
click here
2) VOCABULARY
3. mastodon: a large, extinct, elephant-like mammal
5. sojourn: a temporary stay
37. cynicism: behavior of distrusting or disparaging the motives of others
89. yoked: oppressed, subjected to
90. brutishness: cruelness
97. mendicant: beggar
3) ANALYSIS
(a) This poem is about human nature and behavior. It is about the way that humans have, for hundreds of years, acted poorly towards nature and the Earth. The poem is calling on humans to change their behavior so as to no longer have a negative impact on nature, mankind, and our world. The poem provides hope and strength for the audience to change their behavior and appreciate the world they have been given.
(b) "On the Pulse of Morning" is about the hope of a new day. The poem is both a warning and an invitation to humans. The speaker is telling us that we do not have to keep acting in this awful way, the way that has been damaging our world and creating ignorance and violence in mankind. The speaker is also warning people that they will no longer be able to find comfort or hide away from the problems in the huge world that we live in. The speaker is saying that people need to start being bold and brave in their actions, and they need to stop trying to find comfort in nature, need to stop using it as a crutch, because they are too scared of what the world might hold. The speaker reassures us that humans are strong and can make a change, saying that humans were "created only a little lower than / The angels". The speaker tells us that the Earth wants humans to end their violent and evil nature, "today I call you to my riverside, If you will study war no more." The poem is telling us that although there are parts of nature that are long lost, like dinosaurs, we can make a change in the way we act that will prevent even more losses. The world is still a welcoming place, no matter how many faults we, as humans, have. We do not have to hide from the world any longer, instead, we need to start embracing it, and finding peace in it.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
"On the Pulse of Morning" is a poem filled with messages of hope and comfort. It makes you feel motivated and hopeful. This poem is a call to us to change our ways, and actually makes you realize how and why we need to change. It gives us hope that, despite how damaging our behavior has been, we can still change it and begin to have positive impacts on our world and other people. This poem makes me feel strong and brave, because it does not sugarcoat anything, but rather uses bold and empowering words to make me re-evaluate how I act and how I can make changes to my life. The poem reminds us that the world is not a safety blanket, and cannot cover up our flaws, rather, it can make us strong. I, like everyone else, have experienced feeling lost and hopeless before, but this poem emits strength and courage to face up to our actions and make the brave changes that are long overdue.
click here
2) VOCABULARY
3. mastodon: a large, extinct, elephant-like mammal
5. sojourn: a temporary stay
37. cynicism: behavior of distrusting or disparaging the motives of others
89. yoked: oppressed, subjected to
90. brutishness: cruelness
97. mendicant: beggar
3) ANALYSIS
(a) This poem is about human nature and behavior. It is about the way that humans have, for hundreds of years, acted poorly towards nature and the Earth. The poem is calling on humans to change their behavior so as to no longer have a negative impact on nature, mankind, and our world. The poem provides hope and strength for the audience to change their behavior and appreciate the world they have been given.
(b) "On the Pulse of Morning" is about the hope of a new day. The poem is both a warning and an invitation to humans. The speaker is telling us that we do not have to keep acting in this awful way, the way that has been damaging our world and creating ignorance and violence in mankind. The speaker is also warning people that they will no longer be able to find comfort or hide away from the problems in the huge world that we live in. The speaker is saying that people need to start being bold and brave in their actions, and they need to stop trying to find comfort in nature, need to stop using it as a crutch, because they are too scared of what the world might hold. The speaker reassures us that humans are strong and can make a change, saying that humans were "created only a little lower than / The angels". The speaker tells us that the Earth wants humans to end their violent and evil nature, "today I call you to my riverside, If you will study war no more." The poem is telling us that although there are parts of nature that are long lost, like dinosaurs, we can make a change in the way we act that will prevent even more losses. The world is still a welcoming place, no matter how many faults we, as humans, have. We do not have to hide from the world any longer, instead, we need to start embracing it, and finding peace in it.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
"On the Pulse of Morning" is a poem filled with messages of hope and comfort. It makes you feel motivated and hopeful. This poem is a call to us to change our ways, and actually makes you realize how and why we need to change. It gives us hope that, despite how damaging our behavior has been, we can still change it and begin to have positive impacts on our world and other people. This poem makes me feel strong and brave, because it does not sugarcoat anything, but rather uses bold and empowering words to make me re-evaluate how I act and how I can make changes to my life. The poem reminds us that the world is not a safety blanket, and cannot cover up our flaws, rather, it can make us strong. I, like everyone else, have experienced feeling lost and hopeless before, but this poem emits strength and courage to face up to our actions and make the brave changes that are long overdue.
"Deer Hit", Jon Loomis
1) THE POEM
click here
2) VOCABULARY
5. teazle: plants with prickly leaves and flower heads
3) ANALYSIS
(a) "Deer Hit" is a poem about the mistakes made during teenage years. It is about the bad choices we make because of how naive we are, and how these choices affect us. Sometimes choices we make are good for us in the long run, but other times, the outcomes of these choices hurt us or the people and world around us.
(b) This poem is about the lack of maturity in teenagers that leads to harmful decisions. It is about how, when you are young, you never want to mess up, never want to disappoint. At the same time, however, you do not have enough life experience to not mess up and make these mistakes. You are too young to make the perfect decisions. In "Deer Hit", the poor decision of drunk driving was made first and foremost, but the decision to carry an injured deer home is also made out of ignorance and inexperience. It is made out of a constant pressure not to mess up, to act responsible and like an adult. We always want to fix any problems we have created and we abandon any rational thinking and instead, base our actions off of a certain foolishness and a need to please. We try to save things that we see as beautiful or precious, like, in the poem, the deer. We have this want to preserve any beauty in our lives by making what we feel are the right decisions. We never want to mess anything up, and sometimes, by trying not to, we create more harm than good. In the poem, the boy tries to rescue the deer out of a feeling of guilt and a want to save it. He does not think about how the deer will react to being saved, or what his father will do, or how this action could impact him. "Deer Hit" is a lesson for the audience, teaching us that sometimes we need to stop, slow down, reconsider our actions before we go through with them. We do not have a personal responsibility to save everything and we should not try to, because sometimes things do not need our saving and we will only end up damaging ourselves in the long run.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
As a sixteen-year-old, I can relate to the pressures of being a teenager that are written about in the poem. While I-- and most teens-- have never been in an experience identical to the one written about in the poem, there have been many instances where I have felt to pressure to fix something that was broken. This has happen many times in friendships. Friendships, especially ones during teenage years, come with conflicts and whenever there is any type of fighting going on between my friends and I, I always feel a need to fix everything, and make sure we are all happy. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it does not. I do not have the answers to every problem in my life, and I know that I still have plenty to learn about as I get older and further mature. All teenagers make mistakes, and some may stay with us for the rest of our lives, but we know that we will only learn from these mistakes and someday, we will have learned enough so that we stop making them.
click here
2) VOCABULARY
5. teazle: plants with prickly leaves and flower heads
3) ANALYSIS
(a) "Deer Hit" is a poem about the mistakes made during teenage years. It is about the bad choices we make because of how naive we are, and how these choices affect us. Sometimes choices we make are good for us in the long run, but other times, the outcomes of these choices hurt us or the people and world around us.
(b) This poem is about the lack of maturity in teenagers that leads to harmful decisions. It is about how, when you are young, you never want to mess up, never want to disappoint. At the same time, however, you do not have enough life experience to not mess up and make these mistakes. You are too young to make the perfect decisions. In "Deer Hit", the poor decision of drunk driving was made first and foremost, but the decision to carry an injured deer home is also made out of ignorance and inexperience. It is made out of a constant pressure not to mess up, to act responsible and like an adult. We always want to fix any problems we have created and we abandon any rational thinking and instead, base our actions off of a certain foolishness and a need to please. We try to save things that we see as beautiful or precious, like, in the poem, the deer. We have this want to preserve any beauty in our lives by making what we feel are the right decisions. We never want to mess anything up, and sometimes, by trying not to, we create more harm than good. In the poem, the boy tries to rescue the deer out of a feeling of guilt and a want to save it. He does not think about how the deer will react to being saved, or what his father will do, or how this action could impact him. "Deer Hit" is a lesson for the audience, teaching us that sometimes we need to stop, slow down, reconsider our actions before we go through with them. We do not have a personal responsibility to save everything and we should not try to, because sometimes things do not need our saving and we will only end up damaging ourselves in the long run.
4) PERSONAL CONNECTION
As a sixteen-year-old, I can relate to the pressures of being a teenager that are written about in the poem. While I-- and most teens-- have never been in an experience identical to the one written about in the poem, there have been many instances where I have felt to pressure to fix something that was broken. This has happen many times in friendships. Friendships, especially ones during teenage years, come with conflicts and whenever there is any type of fighting going on between my friends and I, I always feel a need to fix everything, and make sure we are all happy. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it does not. I do not have the answers to every problem in my life, and I know that I still have plenty to learn about as I get older and further mature. All teenagers make mistakes, and some may stay with us for the rest of our lives, but we know that we will only learn from these mistakes and someday, we will have learned enough so that we stop making them.
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